The Economist, please review this article. What you mention about the claims of electoral fraud, kindly note that they were very well substantiated and evident. Read a little bit more about the monex scandal for example, which is the tip of the iceberg.

Pena Nieto might or might not acheive all his desired goals written on his agenda. 36% is not exactly a lot of votes and im pretty sure mr.Nietos party occupies a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. Passing down laws may be a significant challenge. I know people are predicting that Mexico's economy will be in the top 10 by the year 2020(Pena wont be president that long)but they have to start taking drastic actions or they are going to end up on the same state as Russia. They have the potential to make billions from tourism and oil and gas. So far, they have not introduced any modern reformes, tried to compete with big countries like Canada, America and Brazil and their dollar is on a downhill course. Chapo Guzaman will also have to be caught to make Mexico safer in the eyes of tourists and people alike. So far, it hasnt even been half a year, but I seriously hope he starts soon, or mr.Niento is going to have lots of work to do.

Mexico is already the 11th largest economy in the world. It does not take a crystal ball to predict it may be the 10th in 8 years.

And Mexico DOES make billions from tourism, oil and gas already. Mexico is the 9th largest oil producer in the world, and the 10th tourism destination in the world.

Modern reforms HAVE been introduced already. You just have not read about them (do your own research on that one).

As to competing with big countries like Canada, America and Brazil, your choice of grouping Brazil with Canada and the United States is simply wrong. Most of Mexico´s socioeconomic variables are superior to Brazil´s. And Mexico does not compete with the US; rather, the US is the field where Mexico competes for consumers, against other emerging countries. You should have used China instead of Brazil as an example. (Mexico exports twice as much than China on a per capita basis).

Capturing Chapo Guzman will do absolutely NOTHING to increase security. If you don´t understand why, you don´t understand the security problem in Mexico.

... "But many of the government’s boldest promises have not yet been achieved, and need to be."

Time and again, TE writes as if Mexican politicians never let people down on what they promise. It is already extremely optimistic to hope that Peña Nieto will fulfill his boldest promises during his entire term; fulfilling them after only a couple of months in power would be unbelievable for ANY politician on Earth.

What is wrong with Mexico???
It has everything going for it, yet it chooses to mire in the mud.
Instead of a Mexican Investment Bank buying Modelo, a Brazilian one is doing so.
Instead of making hard reforms for the benefit of North America (Canada, U.S. and
yes, Mexico), Mexico put the country on a reverse course.
Instead of preparing Mexicans for the 21st Century, it is keeping Mexicans in the 18th Century.
So much potential waste!!!!! Cabo San Lucas could be a global destination on a par with a posh
European resort. The Mexican Riviera has the potential to compete with Monaco.
The desert which many Mexicans loathe has riches that the world crave. For instance,
Nopal (Cactus) has medicinal properties which Chinese understand very well and purchase it.
(See link below from a Chinese web site). Some of the Nopal derived products are written in
Chinese with a mention that they come from Mexico.http://s1.sinaimg.cn/orignal/a26021f6gc75a7e338400&690http://www.excelsior.com.mx/2012/12/27/nacional/876670&sa=U&ei=mzchUcTNC...
Mexican cuisine and beverages are prized in many parts of the world.
Unlike larger Latin American countries, Mexico has its own native consumer brands that went global.
After all said and done, I am truly disappointed with Mexico. A visionary government would
make Mexico the destination for FDI. A thriving middle class (not the stipend kind found in
other L.A. countries) would purchase Apple products cash instead of multiple installments.
Mexico has really messed up with its current backsliding. Mexicans talk tough about their
pride about their country, but actions are speaking louder than words. If it is a third world EM nation 20 years from now, it would only have itself to blame. No one else.

But that does not make them "larger" countries... in fact, they are rather small economies with tiny populations. Only Brazil is larger on both population and economy -and why is that "unfortunate"?- and it does have some global brands (you mentioned one, albeit only as a side reference).

But that does not make them "larger" countries... in fact, they are rather small economies with tiny populations. Only Brazil is larger on both population and economy -and why is that "unfortunate"?- and it does have some global brands (you mentioned one, albeit only as a side reference).

There are good things and bad things about Mexico, and the same thing can be said about just about any country. There´s nothing inherently "wrong" with Mexico. Large, culturally diverse countries are hard to manage, that´s all. Mexico faces the same types of challenges that all other large emerging economies face.
So keep calm and carry on, for Christ´s sake.

What profits a country to have a huge GDP if the GDP per capita
is not commensurable with its economy size. A handful of
Carlos Slim does not indicate that Mexico on a par with
Switzerland, Norway, US, and Germany. Rather, it illustrates
some serious inequalities and lack of upward mobility by
the general population.

Zerge, Canada and Australia are also large economies. They did not need
600 years to eventually evolve into a high GDP per capita countries.
I sad to say that Latin America (Portuguese and Spanish Colonization)
has a lot to do with the slowly evolving part.

There is much that can be done to quell the violence, but I am afraid
that Mexicans would not have neither the guts nor the stomach for it.
Mali asked France to help. Mexico is too proud to ask an International
military force to put down the Cartels. The Military and Police in Mexico
cannot be trusted. A foreign force would be less susceptible to corruption
than the locals.

In the end, it is about how the Mexicans handle it. They can be MexiCAN
or MexiCAN'T. So far, they have been MexiCAN'T.

I´m sorry my friend, your comment shows that you do not understand the nature of the violence in Mexico. Before president Calderón started the war against the cartels, Mexico had a murder rate of 9 per 100,000, with a downward trend. Then it spiked well above 20 per 100,000. Clearly the cause of the violence is the destruction of the cartel structures. Sure they where moving drugs, but with no violence. Just like drug gangs do all over the world, including the US.

So, the strategy PRI will follow is clear. They will let the cartels reach a stable state, let them move their drugs as in the past, and this will reduce street violence. Just like every country in the world.

James, comparing Canada or Australia to Latin American countries shows you are not a very educated individual. These countries were colonized (like the U.S.) by Europeans who wiped out the native populations. These people were just an extension of the people of england at the time. The Spaniards (unlike the English) did not come to the new world to escape from their king. They came to the new world to obtain gold and send it back to Spain. They did not bring their wives or families, so they needed the native men to extract the gold and native women for pleasure. They did not care about forming governments or leaving a legacy to their children. The children of these men were back in Spain. The natives were treated like slaves and had no rights to own property or elect a government until the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Don't talk about 600 years in the case of Mexico, talk about 100. Do not compare countries that were ruled by the majority for the benefit of the majority with those ruled by the minority for the benefit of the minority. Don't compare people who had thousands of years to understand democracy (the English) and perfect it, with people who had their own cultures and systems of governments and were then invaded and told democracy wwas not meant for their kind. Every country has had its own struggles and comparisons like the one you made above make you sound very ignorant. That said, it is time for the people of Mexico to strengthen Mexico's democratic institutions and learn about the social responsabilities we have towards our country and the world.

Agreed with Warrior85, I would also add officially Mexico has 200 years of existence as a country, but most of the XIX century the country had to deal with civil wars and foreing interventions of invasions, except for the period known as the Porfiriato which lasted 30 years and ended with a the revolution of 1910 ,that lasted around 11 years, after that an institutional dictatorship of 70 years that helped stabilise things enough for it to develop opposition parties so there could be something aproaching democracy with a mixed economy given the principles of the revolution were socialist, the country went from socialism to state capitalism to the trade system of today that is still mix of capitalism and socialist concepts. Mexico´s history is just a lot different to that of Canada and Australia and it also has a lot more population than the both of them too. My two cents.

Also agreed with Zerge :) , a country alone can do so much to fight an international crime org. especially given it gets most of its gains and sometimes weapons from some of the more developed countries in the world, USA and Europe.

If you are using "unresolved violence problems" as a parameter for chosing countries to visit, don't forget to cross off Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, U.S. Virgin islands (for this matter almost all the Caribean islands), and another 2 dozen of countries which rates of homicides are exponencially higher than those of Mexico in past 15 years.

If you are using "unresolved violence problems" as a parameter for chosing countries to visit, don't forget to cross off Brazil, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, U.S. Virgin islands (for this matter almost all the Caribean islands), and another 2 dozen of countries which rates of homicides are exponencially higher than those of Mexico in past 15 years.

Zerge, kowtowing to the Narcos is not going to make
the problem go away. In areas like Sinaloa, Mexico
could use drones to track movement, and to acquire
targets for interdiction and arrest.

The meager resources Mexico have could be put to
maximum use in a more focused way. Major Cartel
figures are still at large. Pablo Escobar was
located thanks to American assistance, know how,
expertise and technology. The same should be in
Mexico for the major Narcos at large.

You said: "Just like every country in the world"
Taiwan, Singapore, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Switzerland, etc. don't have this kind of problem.

1)You don't know a thing about me. Yet, you say that I am totally
out in the dark about Latin America.

2)The greatest threat to mankind is the herd mentality. Sure,
Spain and Portugal f**ked up Latin America. Should the current
Latin Americans continue the tradition of their forefathers?
Should Latin Americans wake up and change today. Can they do the
latter???

3)Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U.S., UK (the Anglos) have
proven to value their people more than the Iberians colonized world
do theirs. That is specially so when it comes to labor markets and
upward mobility. The all important per capita income is tossed by
the wayside, and a few Latin Americans (including Mexicans) are
the world's richest individuals. Who exploits people more? Latin
Americans or their Anglo counterparts?

4)When Mexicans embrace people from Chiapas and Yucatan (the Yucas)
as close brothers, then I might believe your version of reality.

"kowtowing to the Narcos is not going to make
the problem go away"
Oh, yes it will. And I can tell you so, because that´s the way it was done before Calderón, and we had pretty much zero cartel violence.
" Mexico
could use drones to track movement, and to acquire
targets for interdiction and arrest."
That´s done already.http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/israeli-spy-drones-going-a...
"The meager resources Mexico have"
Mexico´s resources being thrown against the cartels are more certainly not meager. You are just disinformed.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces
"Taiwan, Singapore, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Switzerland, etc. don't have this kind of problem."
Those countries do not have the misfortune to be glued to the largest drug consuming country in the world. The exception being Canada:http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/28/exclusive-canadas-illicit-drug-expo...
Actually Canada is a very good example. They export tons of drugs to the US, with very little violence. Why? Because the Canadian government does not mess with the Canadian mafias.
It could not be clearer. It baffles me why you do not grasp it.

Canada is not corrupt as Mexico. The per capita income is much
higher than Mexico. When Police Officers are well trained,
supervised, and well paid corruption decreases. There is
no "Plata o Plomo" in Canada.

Compared to the U.S., Mexico resources are meager. The Cartels
are something that even the U.S. would struggle with if they
were inside U.S. territory as they are in Mexico. My suggestion
is for an outside force to assist Mexico in defanging the Narcos.
Kowtowing to them won't solve a thing for the corruption will
only makes them stronger.

"Canada is not corrupt as Mexico"
That is correct. And it is also irrelevant to my point: Canada is a huge drug trafficker, and the only reason there´s no violence, is because the government does not interfere with the Canadian mafias. Ergo, when the Mexican government stop interfering with the Mexican mafias, violence will go down.

"The Cartels
are something that even the U.S. would struggle with if they
were inside U.S. territory as they are in Mexico"
Please, you cannot be this naive. Of COURSE the cartels and American mafias are inside the US! How else does all those tons upon tons of drugs get distributed to every corner, school and club in the country?? I don´t see the National Guard setting up roadblocks to inspect suspect trucks, do you?

If you ignore the cartels, and let them do their trafficking, you REDUCE corruption and REDUCE violence. Do you really do not see that?

Zerge, the U.S. does not have the level of violence as seen in Mexico.
Just to illustrate, the brave reporter on the link below was on an overpass
being showered with bullets. If you watch his broadcast found online,
you can clearly see white spots materialize on the pavement a mere feet
behind him. Those white puff like spots are bullets hitting the pavement.http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_E8j3f_CWegg/S-h8VULOuTI/AAAAAAAAJ20/VKOBx9hIja...
If you want to be defeatist and give in to the Narcos, that is your view and opinion.
The U.S. HAD its share of Chapo Guzman in the early 20th Century. Al Capone was
the predecessor of Chapo. A small band of incorruptible cops and a savvy government
were able to catch Al Capone on tax evasion grounds rather than his illegal activities.
Should Mexico start arresting small and mid level traffickers on tax evasion, I am sure
it will lead to bigger fish.
In some U.S. cities, what may appear to you as leaving drug trafficking alone is actually
quite the contrary. The Feds have very excellent surveillance, and tracking of individuals.
For example, one time there were many Mara Salvatrucha in Nor Cal operating with
what appeared as impunity. Where are they now? Some were kicked out of the country;
Some are serving time in a Federal jail.
When combining tax evasion with targeted surveillance, the Cartels will be defanged.
To top it off, just look at New York Mafia. Where is Teflon Don now? How powerful
is the Mafia now in NYC?
BOTTOM LINE: Mexico needs a Rudy Giuliani (the man who cleaned NYC),
NOT a Salinas de Gotari (Mexico's most corrupt former President
who did exactly what you are suggesting - He left the Cartels alone).

Dear James, just a logic question for you, how come those uncorruptible officials seem to not be hable to stop their citizens from cosuming drugs,US being number 1 drug consumer in the ENTIRE WORLD, given those drugs suppusely are not allowed? does this sound like Al Capone days are over or just that something changed in their strategy?

Your logic is extremely flawed. Governments can't stop people from speeding,
running red lights, insider trading, bribing, etc. However, laws and consequences
do have a way to discourage such behaviors from being the norm.
Sure you can run a red light. If caught it is a juicy ticket, points in your licence and your
car being towed. No car translate into no ability to go to work, and so forth.
Sure you can do insider trading. If caught, it is jail time. Jail time is lack of freedom, right?
Sure you can consume drugs, etc. You are either going to overdose, do something crazy,
or not pass the random drug test at work. No job equals no income. Consequences for
actions.

You make it sound like everyone in the U.S. is consuming drugs. That is not true.
You make it sound that the U.S. is like Mexico. Corruption is rampant. Again, that is not true.

Not everybody, but you really can´t deny either that there is concumption and at great cuantities WHY, how, who, what is the cause of there being so much drugs inside the US in the first place?, around ALL the country? if there really are is so much control of it as you said then is even more confusing or suspicious, don´t you think? especially when you consider drug traffic generates almost as much money as selling weapons, which curiously also is involved a lot in drug traffic and the US happens to have an industry around it, Do you really think drugs are just shipped and stay at the frontier? How naive of you really, or maybe you are just too perjuiced, to really think about it.

The point here is that, you can´t open fire at addictions, you can just help ppl that are afflicted of it, help the ppl and consume will be down. you can´t jail or open fire at an addiction it doesn´t help in the least. unless you are getting something out of it. Mexico doesn´t have that alternative for the simple fact that Mexico´s consume has been traditionally low and below the middle mundial , and that was done by supporting and helping possible or addict ppl, not by jailing them. So we find we have to stay between drug traffic and it´s biggest market the US, and without it EVER addresing the problem inside it, from the cause not the consume.

President Nieto and possible 2016 US Presidential candidate Florida Senator Rubio are the faces of Hispanic culture that are advocating new Latino world leadership.
They are the pretty faces that are being financed by massive Narco-Empire wealth arising from a region of corruption, world class-economic inequality, government incompetence, education stagnation, and everyday violence.
International Narco Terror needs a tool to expand its power.
Underneath the shiny facade is a charnel house.
But they are the pretty faces.

Connect The Dots - I am not sure Florida Senator Marco Rubio can be lumped in with Mexico's new president who is, as you say, being financed by massive narco-empire wealth. Sure, such accusations can be leveled at nearly any leader in Mexico. However, accusing Rubio of being funded by narco wealth is no less offensive than some right winger accusing a leader in any Muslim community in the US of being financed by terrorists simply because they are Muslim.

Sure, they are pretty faces and probably more style than substance. That is probably where the similarities between the two politicians end.

There is no "tearing up the script"
-
-It would be somewhat immodest yet quite pertinent to invite you to check my comment(the end of the liberal democracy experiment in Mexico) written a few days before the Mexican Presidential election of July last year.
-
-One paragraph from that time:"... Mr Peña´s first step will be power consolidation.The resources of Mexico State have allowed his political machinery to win for him Mexico´s presidency.After December 1st, with the resources of the entire Federal Government and a social consensus to end the War on Drugs by all means necessary,not to mention the legitimacy of his victory, he will be well positioned to centralize power in a clever and organized way.

He will probably rein in the major power brokers that helped to elevate him, probably including the media.Once he fully controls the domestic arena, he may try to reach a more advantageous position with respect to Mexico´s invisible High Elector: the US government.He will diversify, as much or as little as the international situation allows..."
-
-Televisa,Telmex´s Slim and the electorally powerful teacher´s union are all three important brokers whose ascent was allowed by the old PRI under the false calculation that they would be loyal.It is common sense for Mr. Peña to curb their power before they turn against the PRI once again.
-
-The teacher´s union´s leadership is so universally hated by the entire Mexican elite-and with good reason- that the fact that its leader, Mrs. Gordillo, has not been jailed(yet) under whatever accusation the way former President Salinas did with the head of the PEMEX union, only shows that Peña´s power is not as consolidated for now nor the new PRI´s style as confrontational.
.
BTW, some data I was playing with the other day:
.
GDP per capita in year 2000 constant dollars(ie inflation adjusted, real dollars, not PPP adjusted) of the following nations as a percentage of the figure for the USA (i.e. USA=100%)
:
Year 1960
.
Singapore 16 %
Mexico 18 %
Spain 27 %
UK 73%
.
.
Year 2010
:
Singapore 87 %
Mexico 16 %
Spain 41 %
UK 75 %
.
.
Both Dirigisme and Neoliberalism have failed in Mexico.After 25 years of the first followed by another 25 years of the second the end result is that Mexico instead of catching up with America, in real dollars, it has been left behind.
.
Outstanding achievement in development is possible, look at Singapore.Hispanic culture is no obstacle per se, look at Spain.
.
Of course the Mexican government knows it is high time to act.

As delicate as usual, dear Zerge.
.
As I explained above, I chose not to use PPP, and for the following reasons:

a) PPP comparisons vary widely depending on what basket of goods you use
b) If one were to use the whole economy as a representative basket of goods, as the EU´s Eurostat does,international comparisons become skewed as for example pork is a staple in China but not in Saudi Arabia
c) There are no reliable PPP calculations for most nations going back to 1960
d)The most accurate way to use PPP in my opinion-as yet it hasn´t been tried-would be bilateral comparisons.
-
but most importantly:
.
e) PPP is pie in the sky, real money is what you trade with in the international markets.
.
Try buying a Japanese car and ask Toyota to take 8 pesos to the dollar instead of 12 "because that´s the "true" PPP value of the peso".I do not think they will be willing to close that particular deal, I´m sorry to say.
.
.
Thus the figures stand.In fact they are the real figures.
.
Now, you may not like those figures, and I would wish they were better figures as well, but facts are facts.

And by the way, if you check the link with PPP GDP pc you offer, in the 1980-2012 period for which there is data, you can see this:
.
1980
Mexico´s PPP GDP pc is equal to 40% that of the USA (40%:that number by itself illustrates the limits of PPP calculations)
.
2010
Mexico´s PPP GDP pc is equal to 30% that of the USA
.
Instead of catching up, it went down by a quarter in thirty years.
-
-
Are you trying to help me make a stronger case regarding the failure of the economic models used in Mexico?
If that´s the case, thank you.

I beg to differ.
.
Don´t take it so hard, digest the numbers and come up with possible explanations and solutions.
-
Why waste time in denying an unpleasant reality instead of trying to figure out how to overcome it?

What can I say? this is an absurd a situation, you are not adding to the issue at hand(failure of the models used by Mexico to shorten the distance with the USA) or at least the subsidiary issue of PPP/real money pci calculations, using numbers, examples and arguments...

jvictor1789 - you wrote, "Outstanding achievement in development is possible, look at Singapore.Hispanic culture is no obstacle per se, look at Spain."

Actually, using Spain as an example of why Mexico's Hispanic culture cannot be blamed for its problems may be correct. However, Mexico is not the only nation south of the United States that if not living up to its potential.

Moreover, some of the other examples used, such as Singapore and the UK, along with Spain, do not explain the problems that Mexico faces or the hope that it can overcome them. Singapore, the UK and Spain all do not live next to a larger, much more advanced neighbor which in some ways enables the bad behavior in the country in question. The US is a great market for Mexico to focus - particularly for cheap export products and drugs. The US also is a great source of other products to brought into Mexico, such as guns. None of these products sent out or sourced in are exactly helping Mexico become more stable, advanced or less violent.

Sometimes I wonder what Mexico would have been like had their next door neighbor been Canada, not the US.

"Sometimes I wonder what Mexico would have been like had their next door neighbor been Canada, not the US."

I have a hunch that Mexico´s pci would be double what it is today.

Powerful neighbors rarely are helpful.For example, and despite the far greater solidarity between rich and poor members(prior to 2008) of the EU than of NAFTA, Spain´s gains in pci are mostly prior to its becoming a member of the EU.

It´s GDP pc as a share of America´s went from 27% in 1960 to 39% in 1980.It has only climbed two points, to 41%, since it became a member of the EU.

Not to mention the fact that Mexico's (as well as Central America's and Colombia's) deep-seated security and corruption dilemma is thanks to the closeness to the world's largest consumer market of narcotics. It just so happens this consumer is also the world's most stringent enforcer, never mind the corruption many of its enforcement methods might breed in neighboring countries.
As Porfirio Diaz put it about 100 years back, "Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States."